


Diplomacy

by holdontoyourhulahoops



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: All the Paladins are there, Bonding, Bonding Fieldtrip, Lance goes fishing, Let Pidge say fuck, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Pidge rescues Keith, The Klance is Really Unimportant and Implied, Voltron needs more bonding field trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 23:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12000372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdontoyourhulahoops/pseuds/holdontoyourhulahoops
Summary: Pidge and Keith volunteer to go on a diplomatic mission so the rest of the team can go on a fishing trip.Unfortunately, neither of them are natural diplomats and things go about as well as could be expected.





	Diplomacy

“Fascinating!” Coran exclaims. His eyes are round with curiosity as he examines the shiny new fishing rod in Hunk’s hands. “So this is a tool from Earth? It’s quite magnificent in its simplicity.”

Hunk beams at the praise.

“Uh, yeah. You just cast it with some bait and… wait. It’s not too hard, actually.”

Coran hums, tilting his head curiously at the rod. It’s basically a normal fishing rod, save a few modifications added to better track fish and make reeling easier.

“Seems like it might be a bit inefficient.”

“Well, humans have been using these for ages,” Hunk explains.

Lance nods eagerly. He’s practically bouncing with excitement. “Yeah, most of them aren’t this fancy, but people use them all the time. My siblings and I spent countless afternoons just casting off the shores with crappy old rods,” he says, eyes growing soft in the way they always do when he mentions his family.

Pidge yawns from where she’s sitting behind them. “I agree with Coran. What’s the point of sitting and waiting? I could probably design something that could-”

Lance makes a face at her, shaking a finger. “Nuh, uh, uh. If we’re going to catch these magical space fish, we aren’t go to cheat.”

“Technically, they’re not really fish, nor magic,” Coran corrects, twirling his mustache. “Although their exoskeleton does resemble some species of aquatic lifeforms commonly found on your planet.”

“It isn’t cheating!” Pidge cuts in, ignoring Coran entirely.

“Yeah, it is! And we all agreed, a bonding fishing trip would be good for team spirit!” Lance counters, excitement clear in his eyes. “Even Keith agreed to come along.”

Keith huffs from where he’s sitting across from Pidge, but she can see the way his mouth tilts fondly in a way it only seems to when Lance is doing something particularly insufferable.

“Oh, I had no intention of insulting your planet's technology,” Coran assures. “Besides, the Arogothian shloshnot is one of the most elusive beings in the universe. Their scales are near priceless. It’s no simple feat to catch one. Yet, with this technology, I have no doubt we will be successful! This should be a fantastic day!”

Pidge rolls her eyes, sinking further into her seat. This certainly wasn’t her idea of a fantastic day. But Hunk and Lance seem so excited, even she doesn’t have the heart to tear them down too much.

“Great,” she grumbles.

“With Hunk’s new designs, we’ll catch so many fish, those stuffy diplomats will be so impressed they’ll have no choice but to give us information!” Lance says, ignoring her completely. Hunk nods eagerly, slinging an arm over Lance’s shoulders.

Rubbing at her temples, Pidge struggles to hold back her oncoming headache. The plan is more convoluted than practical by any measure. Yet Hunk and Lance had been so excited at the prospect of a fishing trip, and Coran and Allura were very curious to learn more about fishing once they started rambling off. And everyone knows they could all use a break. Pidge supposes she can’t blame Keith or Shiro for being unable to shoot the idea down.

“Paladins.”

The atmosphere in the room changes instantly at the tone of Allura's voice. She makes her way into the control room, lips pursed, with Shiro at her heels.

“We’ve received a transmission from the Maruthites, a sentient species living on a planet not far  from our current location. They requested an audience with the Paladins of Voltron immediately.”

“Like, immediately, immediately?” Lance asks. He’s not able to hide the way his face falls.

Allura nods, though her expression does seem a little apologetic. “I’m afraid so. The Maruthites are a strikingly advanced civilization, rivalled by few others. It would be foolish to disregard their invitation.”

“Ah… right…” Lance replies, deflating. Hunk pats him on the shoulder, also looking heartbreakingly dejected. It’s almost enough to make even Pidge feel upset their fishing trip had to be canceled.

Okay, not quite, but almost.

“Well, that’s too bad. But I’m sure we can fish for that fish-thing later, right?” she asks, in an attempt to lift her teammates’ spirits.

Allura sighs.

“I want to say yes. But who knows the next time we’ll be in this galaxy.” She glances around apologetically. “Perhaps we can think of something else aside from those scales in order to form that alliance?”

Lance shifts, leaning against Hunk’s side. “Yeah… it’s fine. I’m sure you can talk them into joining our side. I mean, better than being wiped out by the Galra, right?” He tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

Great. Now Pidge really does feel bad.

“Hey, Lance-”

“Pidge and I will go talk with the Maruthites,” Keith interrupts, drawing everyone’s shocked gazes. Pidge whips around to stare at him like he’s grown a second head. “You guys can go fishing.”

“Keith, I’m not sure-” Allura starts, but Keith cuts her off, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’ll be fine. This fishing trip is really important, and Pidge and I should be able to handle it,” he says, sending Pidge an awkward glance.

Pidge raises a skeptical eyebrow, but shrugs, deciding to play along. Nevermind that she and Keith may be the worst team possible for a diplomatic mission. She doesn’t have a problem with getting out of this fishing trip. Nor does she think she could stand another second Hunk and Lance’s heartbroken dejection.

“I guess that’s fine with me. Probably would give me a chance to scope out some new tech.”

Allura glances uncertainly at Shiro, who’s now staring at Keith with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Are you sure you two will be okay on your own?”

Keith nods, scratching at his neck.

“I mean, yeah? It’s shouldn’t be a problem.”

There’s a moment of silence as Allura and Shiro exchange another look, before Shiro shrugs.

“If you think you guys can handle it, we trust you.”

Delighted, Allura presses her hands together. “Fantastic. I was really looking forward to your fishing lesson,” she tells Lance.

He pumps his fist, throwing an arm over Hunk’s shoulder.

“Awesome! You guys go deal with them and we’ll be sure to catch a real monster!”

Laughing excitedly, Hunk reaches over to ruffle Lance’s hair. “Yeah, princess. We’ll have a great time,” he says, eyes crinkling at the edges.

“Thanks guys,” he adds, nodding in Keith and Pidge’s direction.

Pidge rolls her eyes, waving a hand. Keith is wearing that small smile again, as he watches Lance and Hunk jump up and down.

“It’s not a problem. Something tells me Pidge wasn’t looking forward to be crammed into a boat with you guys all day anyway.”

“What gave you that idea?” Pidge shoots back, smirking.

Beaming, Hunk reaches over to her ruffle her hair too.

* * *

 “You know, that was a really nice thing you did,” Pidge says casually, as she and the green lion follow Black towards the grey planet in the distance.

There’s a beat of silence before Keith hums uncomfortably in Pidge’s ear.

“Yeah, well, I knew the team was really looking forward to it. Coran and Allura wouldn’t stop asking me questions, and Hunk went to all that trouble to design those special fishing poles. I didn’t want them to be disappointed.”

“Mmhmm…” 

“Plus Shiro hasn’t really been himself since he got back. I figured he could use the break.”

“And Lance…” Pidge adds, smirking. “I think he was pretty upset too. That dork seemed really thankful, even if he didn’t say it.”

“Oh, well, yeah. And Lance,” Keith replies, awkwardly.

Pidge snorts. “You know, you’re not such a bad leader after all, Keith. Even if you chose the two worst possible team members for an important diplomatic mission. Allura must really have been looking forward to that fishing trip for her to agree with this boneheaded plan”

Keith huffs quietly, but Pidge can picture the way he squirms uncomfortably at the compliment, no matter how backhanded. Messing with him is too easy.

“We’re not… well...  Neither of us really wanted to go fishing,” he says, lamely.

“Come on, lover boy. Hopefully we don’t destroy Voltron’s relationship with this super advanced civilization. Maybe they’ll even let me look at some of their technology.”

“Wait, what did you call me?”

* * *

Maruthia's skies seem permanently marred by grey haze. Nevertheless, the great city they fly into still seems to shine even from a distance. Pidge follows the black lion as they approach the looming towers, eyes wide with curiosity.

The towers stretch miles into the sky, glowing with activity.  

“Do you think the others would be mad if we spent a few days here? I could probably learn a lot about architecture and programming.”

Keith snorts. “Stick to the mission, Pidge. Then, we’ll see.”

There’s a small group of humanoids below them, as if awaiting their arrival. “What’s the mission, again?”

“Try not to make this too much of a disaster.”

“You know, no one should ever say you don’t have a sense of humor.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Love the confidence there, Keith,” Pidge snarks, as she lands the green lion beside Black.

“No one ever said I was the team optimist.”

“Well I’m definitely not.”

They disembark their lions to greet the small crowd of aliens waiting for them. A tall humanoid with stark purple eyes and blue scales steps toward them. They wear a long veil and strings of  jewels across their body, their posture rigid and stately. The way the rest of the crowd defers to them seems to mark them as the leader.

“Paladins of Voltron,” they greet, in a gravelly, emotionless voice. “We’ve been expecting you.” Pidge glances up at Keith expectantly, but he’s staring helplessly forward like he has no idea what to do. She sighs.

Off to a great start. Really following through on the whole not screwing everything up plan.

“Hey,” she greets, which, okay, not the most eloquent thing to say. She takes a deep breath, trying to channel her inner Allura. “Thanks for having us. This place is really cool.”

Wow. Nailed it.

She can feel Keith’s incredulous stare on the side of her face, but he really has no room to be judging her. At least she said _something_.

“Welcome, Paladins. I am Queen Net. We are honored to have you.”

Keith clears his throat, before taking another step forward.

“Ah, thanks. Princess Allura sends her regards. She’s sorry she couldn’t make it.”

This has Pidge nearly scoffing into her hands. Keith dutifully ignores her.

Luckily, the queen does not seem at all bothered by their combined lack of interpersonal skills.

“Send the princess mine as well. Please, come inside. We have much to discuss.”

Pidge and Keith exchange a look, but they follow the group of aliens into the imposing tower before them. Two great doors slide open as the approach. They slam shut as soon as they’re inside, leaving the hallways oddly dark. Pidge tries not to take this as a foreboding sign.

The inside of the building is almost inexplicable, buzzing with an unseen energy.

“This technology is amazing,” Pidge says, as they’re led into an elevator. The architecture outside had been impressive enough, but Pidge almost feels as if she should be taking down notes now.

The queen lets out a soft sound, which Pidge thinks might be pleased.

“Thank you. It’s been our technological acumen which has warded off the Galra invasion all these years…” Her voice seems to trail off at the end. It seems a little unnerving, but Pidge writes it up to cultural differences.

A red ball of light floats around their heads. The elevator doors open into a new room, where other balls of floating light glide by, illuminating a long hall.

“That’s good,” Keith says, maybe because the alien’s gaze is making him so uncomfortable he has no choice but to speak. “We could use all the help we can get.”

The queen hums in agreement. “We’ve been fending for ourselves for many of your short lifetimes. We thought Voltron had long been destroyed. You could say it came as quite the shock when we received news of your return.”

They follow the queen into a dining hall with a long table. She lifts an arm, nodding her head.

“We have much to discuss. But first, eat. You must be hungry after your journey.”

Pidge is not the type to be overly enthusiastic about alien meals. However, even she knows enough about diplomatic missions to be aware blatantly refusing food never comes off well. So she keeps the smile plastered on her face and follows obediently.

The queen slides into her seat at the head of the table, with Pidge and Keith seated to her left. A few of the other aliens also take seats. They still haven’t bothered to introduce themselves, or even say a word. It’s a little bizarre, but again, cultural differences.

“So tell me, Paladins. Why should Maruthia trust you to protect our planet?”

Wow. No beating around the bush. The queen watches Keith expectantly. He shifts nervously under her harsh gaze, trying to hide how uncomfortable he is.

Clearing his throat, he scratches at the back of his neck. “We have Voltron. And we’re determined to help end the Galra Empire.”

Pidge nods, setting a hand on Keith’s arm. She supposes she’d better at least try to end his misery.

“We’ve been all over the universe freeing planets and taking down Galra bases. And we’ve made a lot of progress so far. Now, as the resistance builds, we hope to end Zarkon and his empire’s reign once and for all. But we can only do it with your help.”

The queen nods, but she seems disinterested, her eyes still focused on Keith.

“Heroic,” she drawls. With a wave of her webbed fingers, plates appear on the table, piled high with some disgusting combination of mush and squirming bugs. Pidge feels her throat run dry.

“Please. Eat.”

Keith swallows, before shovelling a bite of the food into his mouth. He manages to suppress his grimace, which is really quite the accomplishment in Pidge’s book.

“Thank you,” he says. “This is...really nice.”

The queen makes a soft sound, her eyes boring into Keith’s.

“It’s no trouble for our special guests.”

Oddly enough, all the Maruthites seem entirely focused on Keith. Maybe it’s some weird sexist bullshit (but how would they know about archaic earthen social constructions) or maybe they’ve just zeroed in on Keith as the leader. Still, Pidge isn’t complaining. She takes the opportunity to stir her food around and subtly push some of it under the table. Shiro and Allura would be disappointed in her, but hey, they’re not here.

Either way, she’s too unnerved to eat. Something weird is going on. Pidge can feel Keith growing increasingly uneasy beside her. The queen has stopped speaking altogether, simply staring at Keith as he eats the food.

“Keith…” Pidge hisses, beneath her breath. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

He doesn’t acknowledge her. Maybe he’s just trying to pretend like everything's alright. Pidge forces herself to take a deep breath, suddenly regretting they hadn’t brought Allura along. These cultural differences are eerie.

“How is everything? It’s a Maruthian delicacy.” the queen say, still staring at Keith. As far as Pidge can tell, all of the other aliens at the table have hardly touched their meals.

Keith offers a nervous smile.

“It’s good,” he says, unconvincingly. “Thank you.”

The queen hums. “Wonderful. So now you may be open to explaining why a Galra would think we’d be foolish enough to let one walk into our halls.” Her voice rises shrilly, sending chills up Pidge’s spine.

Suddenly, all of the other aliens are on their feet, pupil-less eyes glowering at Keith.

Pidge scrambles to grab her bayard. For Keith’s part, he just stares forward in confusion.

“We’ve been around too long to fall for foolish Galra tricks,” the queen says. With a flick of a wrist, cuffs suddenly sprout from the table, holding both Keith and Pidge in place.

“What are you doing?!” Pidge hisses. “Do you think Princess Allura would just lie to you? Keith is our leader and our friend! Let us go!”

Keith seems to be trembling beside her, at a loss for words. It makes Pidge’s heart drop. She knows Keith still hasn’t really accepted his Galra heritage, that he’s still a little afraid everyone on the team will suddenly just turn on him. The lost, helpless, look on his face makes her blood boil.

“Seriously, let us go! Keith is a great soldier! He wouldn’t hurt any of you!”

“Be quiet, Green Paladin. We’ll discuss this later.”

Pidge grits her teeth, squirming to free herself of her bonds. Keith is still unmoving beside her.

“Keith,” Pidge hisses. “Any idea on how we’re going to get out of this one?”

Keith, in all his infinite wisdom, lets out a little gasp, before promptly collapsing forward into his meal, unconscious.

Great. Just great.

* * *

After that, Pidge is dragged away kicking and screaming. She’s thrown into a dark, silent cell. They confiscate her bayard and she’s left glaring at the door; worried and without any clear way out.

Whatever they did to Keith, it didn’t seem good. He certainly wasn’t going to be in any state to figure out a plan for their escape.

“You’re making a mistake!” Pidge shouts, kicking fruitlessly at her cell wall. “You’re not going to want to explain this to Princess Allura once our friends realize we’re not coming back!”

Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t get her any sort of response. She growls beneath her breath, pounding on the door.

Her attempts at contacting the team for backup go nowhere. Something about the tower's transmission frequency interferes with communications out. Her frantic pings to Keith also go unanswered, which is even more concerning.

Pidge grits her teeth, staring down at her helmet. There has to be way out of here. There just has to be.

Taking a deep breath, she gives herself a moment to calm down and take stock of her situation.

The room is eerily quiet. A single guard outside is her only company, and they’re not paying her much attention.

“Hey, you!” Pidge shouts, even as the guard continues to ignore her. “Where’s Keith? If you idiots lay a finger on him, so help me, you’ll all regret it!”

This still elicits no response. Pidge sits back, huffing. For the first time in her life, she would almost rather be fishing. At least then she could know that all of her friends were safe.

Quiznak. She has to come up with a plan, and fast. The Maruthites already have Keith. From the way they were glaring at him, it didn’t look like they were going to be civil. She doesn’t have time to sit around panicking or feeling sorry for herself.

She scans the cell for anything that can be helpful. The walls are bare, aside from a small window. There isn’t anything she could use to escape. She glances again to see if the guard is paying attention to her, before tapping the scanner on her wrist. It, as well, identifies no obvious escape routes.

Scowling, she leans against the window, trying to get a glimpse outside. The hallway is mostly dark, save the floating lights overhead. There doesn’t seem to be a key on the door, and Pidge has no access to any control panels she may be able to hack into.

It seems she doesn't have many options. Without her bayard, she doesn’t stand much chance of fighting her way out of here. But if it’s just one guard…

The first inkling of an admittedly half-baked plan starts to form. She’d noticed what looked like some kind of a control panel not far down the hall as she was dragged here. If she could hack into that, she might be able to get a lock on Keith’s location.

She only has to find some way to get the guard to open this cell. This definitely isn’t her strong suit. Lance is better at talking his way out of a situation (and into a situation, but that’s another story).

There has to be a better plan than this, but time is limited, and Pidge can't think of anything else. So she decides to screw it.

Time to take a page of Keith’s book. Flying by the seat of her pants it is.

“Okay, I get!” Pidge calls, pressing her face to the window. “I’ll tell you the truth about Keith. Bring me to your queen.”

The guard glances at her for the first time. They still say nothing, but there is vague interest now.

“I won’t speak to you. This information is too important. Bring me to your queen.”

The guard’s eyes flick side to side. Pidge narrows her eyes. “You won’t get any information out of Keith. But I’ll talk.”

It’s a weak lie. Pidge is almost sure the guard sees right through her, but then the door snaps open. The guard grab her roughly by the arm, dragging her back they way they’d come. Perfect. There’s an advantage to being a tiny stick with shrimp arms. Sometimes, her opponents don’t take her seriously. She’s never above using that to her advantage.

Steeling herself, she takes a deep breath, before dropping all her weight and pulling her arm free. The guard seems utterly shocked, but Pidge doesn’t give them time to think about it. She grabs the guard's arm and flips them over her shoulder, as Keith taught her, before kicking them in the head.

She waits a few ticks, but the guard doesn’t so much as flinch. Keith would be proud, were he not currently in mortal peril.

Pidge scans the guard's face with her wrist scanner, before sprinting off.

“Okay,” Pidge mutters into the comm, if only to say something. “Not much time here, Pidge. Just go with the plan.”

The fact that it’s a stupid plan goes unsaid. She sneaks down the hall, trying to ignore her pounding heart. Glancing around the corner, she’s surprised to find the control panel unguarded. That’s either a bad sign or the first stroke of good luck all day.

Pidge doesn’t give herself time to consider. She scrambles forward, examining the machine critically. Thankfully, it isn’t too terribly different than Galran and Altean tech. Pidge would hypothesize that the different societies had all influenced each other as they developed, but she doesn’t have the time for theorizing. She and Hunk can discuss that later.

It doesn’t take long for her to get into the system, using the face scan she’d taken from the guard. Unfortunately, Maruthian language is just a bunch of senseless symbols to her and it would take more time than she has to develop a decent translator.

She decides to wing it, typing away with the assistance of her scanner and data she previously downloaded when it seems applicable.

“Come on…”

There’s movement in the hallway behind her, thumping loudly as a figure stalks by. Pidge holds her breath. She only allows herself to exhale after the steps have faded into the distance. So far, no one has come into this room, but she knows it’s only a matter of time.

“Maybe… just…” She bites her tongue, before typing in another stream of code.

Just like that, all of the cameras from around the base are available to her.

She pumps her fist victoriously, before downloading the data onto her scanner. She finds Keith’s heat signature in a small room on the other side of the building, alone. From what she can tell, he’s alive, so that’s good news, at least.

“Alright…just...”

An alarm begins to blare behind her, so loud it rattles her bones. Pidge flinches, cursing beneath her breath.

“Fuck.” She makes a face, biting her lip. There’s no time to hesitate, if the tower is already alerted. Gritting her teeth, she punches a red button and types in a few more commands.

“This better work,” she mutters, and presses enter. At first, nothing happens. But a tick later, and then the power suddenly cuts, throwing the hallway into darkness.

And they were supposed to be technologically advanced…

Pidge staggers to her feet, not waiting for the Maruthites to find her. It’s only then she realizes she never bothered to locate their bayards. She curses beneath her breath, but doesn’t turn back.

She sprints down the dark hall, edging around corners and following the map on her wrist to Keith’s location. There are a few guards that come at her, but they’re not much of a challenge. A few kicks and dodges take them out easily.

Something about that doesn’t feel right.

It doesn’t take her long to conclude she’s being led into a trap- the most obvious trap in the book. But what choice does she have? She’s not about to leave this place without Keith.

“Keith, can you hear me?” she hisses into her helmet. Again, there’s no response. Pidge frowns with concern, until a weak voice comes over the comm.

“...Pidge…?”

Relief floods her bones.

“Keith. I’m on my way. We’re getting our asses out of here. How are you feeling?”

Again, there’s a beat of silence. “... not great… something. The food...”

“Yeah, we better make sure Allura kills them for drugging our leader. The nerve.”

Keith coughs weakly.

“‘m’sorry, Pidge…” he says, and he sounds utterly miserable.

Pidge sucks in a tight breath. Keith must be really out of it. She’s never heard him this vulnerable before. “For what? Sucking at diplomacy? Like I’m any better. Listen, I have a lock on your location, so I’ll be there in a tick.”

She doesn’t get a response this time.

By the time she reaches Keith’s cell, she's becoming increasingly alarmed. The fact that no one has come to stop her is beyond unnerving.

“Keith, it’s me,” she calls, and promptly kicks in the door. Keith is lying back against the wall, eyes glassy. Pidge draws in a sharp little breath. He has a nasty looking black eye forming, and a split lip. Her lip curls.

“Are you okay? Where are you hurt?”

Keith chokes on a cough. “‘M fine...you should… get out…” he mumbles, delirious.

“Yeah. That’s what we’re doing,” Pidge tells him. She crouches at his side, setting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Can you stand?”

Keith shakes his head weakly. “...trap…”

“No shit. Don’t care.”

“Shiro doesn’t like us to swear…” Keith mumbles, before letting out a quiet groan.

“Fuck you. Now get up.”

Pidge shakes Keith’s shoulder, but his head only lolls to the side. Looks like this is all on her. Fantastic.

“Okay, I’m going to haul you up. Try not to be too much of a useless deadweight.” Pidge goes to throw Keith’s arm over her shoulder, but he squirms weakly away.

“Just… go…”

“Shut up, Keith. Would it kill you to ever just cooperate? We don’t have a ton of time here.”

Keith blinks rapidly, and Pidge can tell it takes a lot of concentration for him to form any coherent thoughts.

“I should have seen this coming… It’s my fault. I’m a terrible leader, Pidge,” he mumbles, lip curling.

“Keith…” Pidge sighs, caught between concern and frustration. Keith is clearly not in his right mind from whatever he’s on, but she knows these insecurities aren’t coming from nowhere.

“You’re so strong, Pidge. Even after your family…” he trails off again, dazed. “You’re too good, Pidge. You don’t deserve this.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Keith, we’ll have this heart-to-heart later. Just cooperate for two seconds.” Pidge hauls Keith up without another word, letting his limp body drape over her back. “Though if it means anything, I meant what I said about you being a good leader. You’re a good friend, at the very least. None of us care that you’re Galra. There’s no way I would even consider leaving you here.”

Keith chokes on a gasping breath, face pressed into Pidge’s neck.

“I love you, Pidge,” he whispers.

It takes all of Pidge’s limited patience not to roll her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah. Like I said, heart-to-heart later.”

Keith whimpers, but he seems to make an effort to hold onto Pidge’s shoulders.

“I hope the others are having the time of their lives on that fishing trip…” Pidge grumbles, making no effort to be quiet. With the lack of guards around, there’s no doubt she’s dragging Keith into some death trap, but she hasn’t thought of another plan yet.

“At least I got to make Lance smile,” Keith babbles, almost incoherent. “I’m glad he’s having fun… and everyone else, of course...”

Pidge scrunches her eyebrows together.

“He has really pretty eyes when he smiles...” Keith continues. “It’s too bad we’re going to die.”

Pidge grits her teeth, hefting Keith further up her shoulders. “We’re not going to die. Why don’t you-”

“Lance is so great, y’know? But he hasn’t been himself lately…” Keith huffs, nuzzling Pidge’s armor. “I just want him to be happy. I like him so much…”

If someone had told Pidge she’d be spending her day lugging around Keith’s limp body while he all but cried over his stupid crush on Lance, she’d have thought them insane. And yet, here she is.

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me,” she says, pausing to listen around a corner. There’s still nothing. It’s like the entire building has just gone entirely empty. “Listen, Keith, I’m glad you love everyone on the team, but I feel like you’re going to regret telling me all this. And this really isn’t the time.”

“You guys are the best…” Keith agrees. “And I can’t even- Lance would never want to-”

“Okay!” Pidge says, probably too loudly. “Like I said. Let’s put a pin in that and we’ll discuss this later. First, focus on helping me get out of here.”

Keith sniffles into Pidge’s shoulder. That isn’t exactly helping, but he’s being quiet now, so Pidge decides to call that a win.

They turn another corner, when suddenly Keith lets in a sharp inhale.

“Our bayards-” he hisses. Pidge turns her head. Their bayards are lying on a table, in the room she just ran by.

Every one of her instincts are screaming ‘trap’ but it’s not as if they can just leave them. And she’d have a much better of fighting her way out of a trap if she has her bayard.

“Good job, Keith. Stay alert.”

This is more of a joke than anything else. Keith seems to be growing even more out of it by the second. Still, he grunts softly in ascent. Pidge drags him into the room as she rushes to snatch their bayards up and get out of there.

For one moment, she thinks her instincts were wrong. Her bayard springs to life in her hand, and she lets a small wave of relief wash over her.

Then the entrance seals shut.

“You were right, Ezi, the Green Paladin was more resourceful than I thought. Definitely a worthy ally.” The lights suddenly come on, and the Maruthite queen appears in the room, flanked by the rest of her court. “I’m impressed. Though I don’t know why you walked right into this trap. I was expecting you to save yourself. You could have left. I wouldn’t have stopped you.”

Pidge scowls, keeping her body squarely in front of Keith’s.

“Stay away from him. I don’t want to fight you. We’re on the same side here.”

The queen tilts her head, eyes emotionless. “If we’re on the same side, give me the Galra.”

Pidge’s hand twists around her bayard. “Not happening.”

The queen hums. She barely lifts a finger before two of her guards charge. Pidge shocks the first easily, but soon she’s overwhelmed. Two grab her arms, dragging her away from Keith as she kicks and struggles.

“You’re making a mistake,” she hisses, voice desperate. “Keith is integral to Voltron- to saving the universe. He’s our friend.”

The Maruthites are unmoved. The queen walks toward Keith, face emotionless. Keith just watches her with his hazy eyes, resigned.

“You clearly are very loyal, human. I can admire that. But you are naive. I’ve been around for many hundred of years, I have seen horrors which you cannot imagine. The only way to protect my planet from the Galra is to eliminate them.”

“No!” Pidge kicks, trying to drive her bayard into one of the guard’s sides. It lets out a little shriek and Pidge dives to free herself, but another grabs her wrist. “You don’t understand what you’re doing! Keith is from Earth! He didn’t know about his Galra heritage until after we were already Paladins! He’s innocent! You can’t just-”

“Pidge.” It’s Keith’s voice, weak and raspy. Her eyes sting behind her glasses as she glances down at his ashen face. “It’s not your fault. And tell the others… I’m sorry.”

Pidge blinks tears from her eyes. “What the hell, Keith?! I’m not just going to let her-”

The queen lets out a quiet breath. “I think we’ve gotten all the information we can out of this one. I’m sorry, Green Paladin.”

The stocky guard behind the queen raises its weapon, directed at Keith at point blank range. Keith eyes are fixed on Pidge, looking apologetic and sad.

Pidge chokes on a sob. “No-you can’t! No!”

Suddenly, there’s a loud blast. They all have a moment to look confused before the wall caves in around them, knocking the queen out of sight. It’s enough to shock the guards into freeing Pidge.

The green lion stands over them, its eyes zeroed in on her paladin.

Pidge blinks the tears from her eyes, letting out a disbelieving breath. “Thanks, girl,” she whispers, voice shaky.

Her lion lets out a mighty roar, and takes a step closer, if only to show off.

Pidge laughs softly in relief. But they’re not truly out of the woods yet. Without wasting another second, she grabs both her and Keith’s bayards and scrambles forward to where he’s lying stunned in the rubble. The green lion doesn’t waste any time before scooping them both up and taking off.

“Keith, are you alright?” Pidge asks, cradling him as she crouches behind Green’s cockpit. There’s no response. Frustrated, she gives his shoulders a light shake.

“Keith-”

He hums, squinting at her against the harsh light of the green lion. “I guess so.”

Pidge makes a strangled sound, somewhere between laugh and sob, before pulling him into a tight hug.

“Quiznak, you fucking idiot, never do that again,” she hisses, against his hair. “I really thought-”

Keith manages to pry his eyes open and offer a watery smile. “Hey... I’m alive…” he draws in a shaky breath. “Thanks to you.”

“It was mostly Green at the end there. I was out of options.”

The green lion purrs appreciatively, sending a warm feeling through Pidge’s body. She returns it readily, trying to convey just how grateful she is.

Keith turns his head, his eyes still closed. “It takes a special Paladin to be able to summon their lion like that. You’re amazing, Pidge.”

The green lion rumbles in agreement. Pidge bites her lip, feeling her face heat up.

“You would have done the same for me.”

A small sound escapes Keith’s throat, but then his eyes slip shut and his head lolls back as he slips into unconsciousness.

Pidge shakes her head, caught between feeling fond and relieved. She tugs Keith farther into Green’s cockpit, before sliding into her seat.

“Okay, girl, we gotta get out of here. We might have to pick up Black or something.”

As if on cue, they hear a roar behind them. The black lion glides into view, following their tail.

“Perfect. Okay, let’s get out of here so we can call the others.”

* * *

 “Coran, can you hear me?”

“Pidge, it’s wonderful to hear from you! Your earthen tradition of fishing with rods is quite fun! We caught more than enough shloshnot to impress the council! Oh, and we caught plenty of plenty to eat as well! It was great. Well, that is until we ran into a rugla, I didn’t realize Hunk and Lance could row so fast!”

“Hey, we didn’t get eaten! The whole planet was a goldmine, Pidge. Man, my brother would lose his mind-”

“Look, Lance, I’m glad you had fun, but I’m gonna need Coran back at the castle as soon as possible.”

“Why? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. Just need to make sure Keith isn’t going to die.”

“What?!”

“What happened?”

“Is he okay?!”

Pidge winces, as every member of the team suddenly talks into the comms at once.

“No need to sound so worried, you guys. Green and I have got it under control now.”

“So I take it your meeting with the Maruthites didn’t go well?” Allura asks, sounding tired.

“Well… we might have just crushed their leader under a building.”

“You did what?!”

“It was only after she tried to kill Keith!”

“She tried to what-?! You’re not serious!”

“Well-”

“How dare she!” Allura’s voice drops dangerously. “I’m on my way!”

“Allura, I don’t think going to fight the Maruthites would be in our best interest,” Hunk says, though he sounds angry too. “It was some kind of misunderstanding, right?”

“Misunderstanding or not, I’m with Allura!” Lance shouts, causing Pidge to wince. “Is Keith okay, Pidge?”

“Yeah, I think so. He’s asleep. Look guys, I’ll fill you all in when we get back. Maybe hang off on the attacking them thing, though. I think Green and I already destroyed half their capital city.”

“Good,” Shiro says. There’s a brief moment of silence, but none of them dispute his judgement.

* * *

Two days later finds Pidge crouched in Green’s hanger, working on a new idea for a powercore device inspired by something she saw in the Maruthian base.

Everything has settled down since then. Coran had determined that whatever substance Keith had ingested would have no permanent effects. Beyond spending a few hours in a cyropod and being a little woozy, Keith would be fine. Pidge was able to talk the rest of the Paladins out of the attacking the Maruthites on the spot. It was decided they’d move on for now.

‘We don’t need an alliance with anyone who tried to kill our leader,’ Allura had said, definitively. No one had argued with her.

Overall, Pidge would still probably call the day a win. She and Keith had managed not to die. The rest of the team had  a fantastic fishing trip, and managed not to get eaten by a massive alien monster. So wins all around.

Pidge hums, peering closer at her code. She’s so busy concentrating she nearly jumps when the hangar door opens behind her.

“No major breakthroughs yet, but I think I’m getting close, Hunk.”

“Actually…”

Pidge spins around in surprise.

“Keith!” She blinks, breaking into a smile. “It’s great to see you back on your feet.”

Keith chuckles, scratching on the back of his neck. “Yeah. Thanks to you.”

Pidge beams, waving a hand. “Ah, I mean…Yeah, Green and I did kinda save your ass back there.”

“Humble.”

Pidge laughs at him, only for Keith to take two step forward pull her into an awkward hug. She lifts an eyebrow. While she’s used to plenty of hugs from Hunk and even Lance, Keith has never been a touchy person.

Keith seems to sense her confusion, because he goes to draw back.

“Sorry, I-”

Pidge shakes her head, throwing her arms around Keith’s waist to tug him closer.

“No, it’s okay. You just surprised me.” She smiles up at him. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Clearing his throat, Keith gives her a soft pat on the back. “About that. I haven’t gotten a chance to say to talk to you yet. So thanks… for coming back for me.”

“Like I would even have considered leaving you behind,” Pidge tells him, pulling back to hold him at arm’s length. “Next time we know; don’t go eating strange substances from suspicious aliens.”

“Ah, yeah, I’m sorry about that.”

Pidge smirks, stepping away so she can turn back to her work. “Don’t be. I got some great blackmail material.”

Keith blinks at her, puzzled. Pidge’s shit-eating grin only grows.

“Wait, what did I say?”

Pidge snorts into her hand.

“Pidge!”

Pidge yawns innocently. “I seem to remember someone crying while wax poetic over Lance’s eyes.”

All the color seems to drain from Keith’s face. Pidge snickers.

“You can’t say anything,” he says quickly. Pidge snorts. “Pidge, please!”

Pidge bites her lip, tilting her head to the side. “I’ll tell you what. You promise to never scare me like that again. And then we’ll see.”

Keith’s face softens. He lets out a little sigh, setting a hand on her shoulder.

“Well, I’ve been told I’m too impulsive to really promise that. But I’ll try my best.”

Huffing, Pidge shakes her head at him. “I guess that’s the best I’m gonna get, huh?”

Keith shrugs sheepishly. “You wouldn’t want your fearless leader any other way, right?”

“You are the worst, Keith,” Pidge says, shoving him in the shoulder, even if she knows her voice sounds far too fond to be really convincing.

Keith laughs and ruffles her hair. She rolls her eyes at him, but can’t quite bite back her smile.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is my first time writing these characters. I'm not sure I love this but I made myself post this to try to get out of a slump.
> 
> I firmly believe what Voltron needs is more bonding field trips.
> 
> Bonding field trips, please.
> 
> Anyway, I found myself desperate for some Pidge and Keith bonding because they have great potential and I need it.
> 
> Feedback is appreciated.
> 
> Message me on tumblr at hopenobodyeverfindsthis.tumblr.com


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